We are pleased to announce that Proteus 8.9 is now in Public Beta. It can be downloaded from the home page of the software (uncheck the 'Ignore Beta Versions' box). This version involves a file format change which is not backwards compatible with older versions of the software.

Library Web Search

Version 8.9 sees the completion of the library part import work by introducing a live web search directly into the library pick form. Now, when you search for a part you can move from installed results to web results at the press of a button. Then you simply double click on the web result to import straight into Proteus. Both the schematic component and the PCB footprint will be imported and, in most cases, the 3D STEP file will also be included. There are over 15 million parts in the web search but if the part you want doesn’t exist you can request it be built for you. This is a free service and typically takes 24-48 hours. A free account needs to be registered with our partner Samacsys but this can be set up from inside Proteus the first time you try to import a part.

Auto-Complete Routes

When routing tracks on the PCB Proteus will now search ahead of the mouse and display a shadow track to a legal destination. You can then simply hit the ENTER button on the keyboard to automatically complete the route as shown by the shadow track. The shadow track will update as you route with the mouse. This allows you to guide the process and then auto-complete when you are happy with the result.

Panelization Improvements

When panelizing, the positioning of the incoming boards often needs to have specific clearances from the panel boundary and between other boards on the panel. We’ve updated the Gerber Editor so that when you are creating a panel the procedure is now:
• Set the world area to be the size of your PCB panel.
• Import your first PCB specifying number of copies and clearances.
• Repeat if necessary with other PCB’s.
• Draw final board edge around the world area to represent the panel.

Miscellaneous Features and Fixes
- Added Schematic Import from OrCAD via the EDIF2 file format: Ref : https://s3.amazonaws.com/labcenter/movi ... porter.mp4
- Added cloud licensing support for enterprise.
- The location of pin 1 (or C/K on 2 pin parts) is now drawn as small circle on the assembly plot.
- A design variant can now be merged into the base design when deleted.
- Simulation Log can be cancelled when the simulation fails.
- Fixed crash and netlist errors after deleting sub-circuits in certain situations
- FIXED: Zone overlapping when a node was moved into the EDGE DRC error area.
- Fixed import of parts with mixed/lower case footprint names.
- Added Raspberry Pi Zero W for IoT builder.
- Fix for padstacks slots with smaller holes on inner layers allowing inner layer shorts.
- Fixed a rare application hang situation caused by very small holes in zones.
- Fixed crash on import of parts with pin names in excess of 50 characters.